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Rudine Sims Bishop (1990) emphasized that children need to see themselves as well as others reflected in the books available to them. For children who are deaf, images of themselves that are "distorted or laughable or inaccurate" (Bishop, 1997) negatively impact their self-esteem and reinforce their marginalized status. The portrayals of characters who are deaf have the potential to shape children's opinions about deafness as loss and disability or as normal human variance. Recognizing that children's literature might perpetuate or counter prevailing cultural discourses, the goal in this study was to determine how characters who are deaf are portrayed in a set of middle-grade novels. The qualitative content analysis revealed positive and problematic representations, and we call for empowering images of deaf children that will benefit all child readers. To set the backdrop for the study, the authors turn to a discussion of how human variance is constructed as disability, the prevailing medical and social models of disability, Deaf culture, and other studies of children's literature featuring characters who are deaf.

The current state of homelessness in the United States, the barriers and challenges students who are homeless face, and the prevailing neoliberal construction of homelessness provide the situational context for this study and the discourse within which this analysis of nine children's novels was written. The authors initiated this study with the complex nature of homelessness in mind. Because literature is written through a "particular lens" (Enriquez & Shulman-Kumin, 2014, p. 16), promotes "a certain 'version' of reality" (Apol, 1998, p. 34), and "uphold[s] certain kinds of truths" (Rogers & Marshall, 2012, p. 725), they wanted to ascertain how these novels represent homelessness--to consider the cultural values they convey and in what ways they interrupt or perpetuate the prevailing neoliberal discourse. The authors were curious about the messages conveyed in contemporary realistic fiction featuring family homelessness and how those messages might shape readers' understandings of homelessness as a personal or as a social issue. They believe children's literature conveys cultural values and that revealing, describing, and analyzing its messages is a political act (Apol, 1998; Corbin & Strauss, 2008; Lewis, 2000). Thus, their overarching question for this study was this: How is family homelessness constructed in a text set of middle-grade, contemporary, realistic fiction novels?

How might we understand the experiences of the millions of displaced children around the world on a personal rather than impersonal level? How might we understand in a way that is immediate rather than abstract? The experiences of displaced child characters in global children's literature mirror the experiences of children in our embodied world, and stories are important in the lives of both literary characters and real children. Global children's literature might help young readers develop empathy for displaced children throughout the world and simultaneously help them recognize the universal nature of storytelling. Displaced children who read these novels may see their experiences mirrored and validated within both layers of story. With the importance and possibilities inherent in storytelling in mind, the author examines its role in the lives of displaced child characters in global children's literature.

Tensions and contradictions in my personal practice and in the extant research prompted this study of preservice teachers' responses to trans-themed young adult literature. I adopted a self-study methodology to identify and address the shortcomings in my practice of including trans-themed literature in a Literature for Adolescents course. Through inductive analysis, I discovered that my students made statements related to literary, sociocultural, and personal themes. Next, I considered the data within and across themes to reflect on my personal practice. The students' responses suggest that I could improve my teaching practice by (1) guiding them to employ specific critical theories and analysis and (2) including multiple texts about the transgender experience. I propose and trouble these practices and consider the ways they confirm or contradict others' research regarding good teaching practices.

Reader response, simulation, and assimilation theories offer insights to our emotional connections with characters. Findings from a study conducted with avid fourth-grade readers show that when the children feel they are next to the character, they acentrally imagine the narrative and experience sympathy. The children also participate and centrally imagine the narrative from their own or a character's point of view when they feel they are interacting with the characters. Finally, the children identify and empathize with the character as they become that character. These children's experiences highlight the validity and limitations of existing theories and help us understand how we form emotional connections with literary characters and the importance of adopting an aesthetic stance during literary reading. (Contains 3 tables.)

The Coretta Scott King (CSK) Award, instituted in 1969 and recognized as an official award by the American Library Association (ALA) in 1982, is conferred annually to an African American author and an illustrator for their outstanding contributions to literature about the Black experience for children and young adults. A partial impetus for the award's creation was the fact that no African American author had won the prestigious Newbery Medal and only twice had an African American writer received a Newbery Honor. The selection criteria for the CSK Award states that books receiving the award "promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream of a pluralistic society." The award criteria further states "particular attention will be paid to titles which seek to motivate readers to develop their own attitudes and behaviors as well as comprehend their personal duty and responsibility as citizens in a pluralistic society." These criteria beg several questions: (1) What is the American dream?; (2) What effect does living in a pluralistic society have on the construction and attainment of the American dream?; (3) How is the American dream expressed by the characters in these award-winning books?; (4) What are the political and moral implications of the dreams presented by CSK characters?; and (5) When and how is institutionalized racism implicated in these characters' dreams? Using content analysis and the lens of critical race theory, this study examines the American dreams of protagonists in CSK award-winning books. (Contains 1 figure.)

In this article, the author explores how a group of ten fourth-grade students who were avid readers became a community of inquiry. The primary goal of this study was to document the children's reading engagement: how they created, entered, and sustained the world of the story. This article also reflects the impact of three elements--data collection, group discussion, and positioning as a researchers--on student empowerment. (Contains 5 figures.)

What significance does writing have for the young writer characters in a set of children's books? Twenty-five intermediate novels featuring characters who write were studied, using content analysis, to find out. The researchers present their findings by describing the characters and why they write. Reasons for writing range from exposing injustice to seeking to communicate. According to this study, the benefits of the act of writing for the character also warrant attention. The benefits include validating identity, coping with life experience, building relationships, and affecting change. It was also discovered that when the writing is shared, the effect on the audience is significant. These novels present images of writers and writing that readers of all ages may find inspiring. The researchers present implications for teachers, young writers/readers, and others concerned with the representation of writing in children's books. (Contains 1 table.)

This study involved fourth grade children as co-researchers of their engaged, aesthetic reading experience. As members of the "Readers as Researchers Club," they documented their engagement with text--how they create, enter, and sustain the story world. The children, who self-identified as avid readers, explored the activities central to their reading experience through memory work, metaphors created as part of a visual protocol, and group discussions. Visualization was critical in their construction of and participation in the world of the story. The children negotiated three dimensions of visualizing: picturing, watching, and seeing. The qualitative difference between dimensions is in the reader's perceived location in the world of the story and the resultant visual perspective. The richness of the children's findings highlights the importance of validating and encouraging aesthetic engagement with story in our classrooms. (Contains 4 figures.)

Abstract Multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have emerged worldwide. In many countries and regions, these resistant strains constitute a serious threat to the efficacy of tuberculosis control programs. An important element in gaining control of this epidemic is developing an understanding of the molecular basis of resistance to the most important antituberculosis drugs: isoniazid, rifampin, and pyrazinamide. On the basis of this information, more exacting laboratory testing, and ultimately more appropriate and timely treatment regimens, can be developed.